Winder-Barrow Blanks American Heritage To Reach NHSI Semifinals

CARY, N.C.—The Winder-Barrow High (Winder, Ga.) Bulldogs don’t care who they play. They’re coming for everyone.

A day after knocking off defending NHSI champ Huntington Beach (Calif.) High, the Bulldogs took on another storied baseball powerhouse Wednesday in American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) and shut it out, 7-0, to advance to the NHSI semifinals.

“We just want to be ourselves, that’s all we keep saying,” Winder-Barrow coach Brian Smith said. “Be who we are, do what we do. We’re not trying to do anything different because of whoever we’re playing, we just work to our strengths and that’s what these guys are about.”

Winder-Barrow’s strength is pitching to weak contact and playing defense, and that’s exactly what the Bulldogs did behind senior righthander Darrell Woodall, who threw 6.2 shutout innings before being forced to exit in the seventh due to his pitch count. Woodall also finished out Wednesday’s win over Huntington Beach with two innings in relief of lefthander Daniel Buice.

Woodall is an uncommitted sidearmer, one who drops his right knee down low enough to touch the ground before his release point. Unconventional sure, but hardly ineffective combined with a well-handled fastball, slider and changeup mix.

Woodall held a talented Heritage lineup to just a pair of hits through the first six innings and came one batter shy of throwing the complete game, with first baseman Triston Casas singling in the top of the seventh to end his day after 105 pitches.

“I felt great, man,” Woodall said, grinning. “The defense behind me, it’s so easy to pitch with them behind me, you’ve just got to pitch to contact, and they don’t make mistakes.

“It’s great, man. It’s an easy job.”

Sitting beside Woodall grinning ear-to-ear in the postgame press conference was Buice, who wasn’t behind him defensively as the game’s DH, but certainly helped the cause, going 3-for-3 with a run, RBI and a double that floated over the Heritage outfield in the fourth inning.

When asked if he was smiling was because of his own hitting or his teammate’s effort on the bump, Buice was quick to hand out praise to Woodall.

“His, man; I’m a team player. That’s my boy right there. I am proud of him no doubt.”

Winder-Barrow has a chance to continue shocking other teams in this tournament with a semifinal matchup against Dana Hills (Dana Point, Calif.) Friday.

“Coming in here everyone expected us to be the underdog,” Buice said. “And we’re just showing the world that they’re wrong.

“And there’s nothing better than that.”